Spiritbender
by RedandBlackBeads
Summary: This is a oneshot about what happens to Azula after Sozin's Comet. Kataang, Maiko and Sukka, but they aren't essential to the plot.


Disclaimer: As much as I would like to, I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Okay, this is a one

shot about what happens to Azula after the war. I've had this running through my mind for a couple of weeks, and it just wouldn't go away. I was thinking of incorperating this into the other story im writing at the moment, but i really couldn't be bothered (lol). Anyways, here it is. Enjoy.

* * *

The Gaang walked down one of the countless corridors in the Fire Lord's Palace, Zuko leading with Mai hanging off his arm, and Sokka and Suki trailing along at the back, talking softly to each other. Zuko's face was hard, as was Mai's – they were the only two who knew just where they were going, who knew just what they were about to do.

'C'mon, Zuko, tell! Where are we going?' Aang pleaded for the millionth time, and for the millionth time, Zuko shook his head wearily and continued on the never-ending passages.

Finally, after almost fifteen minutes of walking, they reached an archway covered with a red sheet with the Fire Nation emblem stitched into it.

'This is it,' Zuko breathed deeply.

'What is it?' Katara asked, but he ignored her question and stepped through the archway, leaving the others to trail behind apprehensively.

They were in a long room with a raised dais along the middle, and tiered seats lining each wall. The seats were completely full of Fire Nation and other wise, all looking to the Gaang expectantly. As soon as they entered, the others saw Zuko and Mai blanch visibly, and they realised where they must be.

'Zuko …' Katara whispered, as they looked around the chamber where Zuko had faced his father in an Agni Kai. The chamber where he had been forcibly given his scar. 'What are we doing here?'

'Azula,' Zuko whispered, pointing to a dark, hunched figure chained to the floor at the other end of the platform that was shuddering and breathing deeply.

'What? You aren't going to kill her, are you Zuko?' Aang asked, alarm evident in his voice.

'No,' Zuko turned to look at him, 'but what you did to my father gave me an idea. A new punishment for treasonous acts, but one that I knew you would agree to. Banishment may have put me on the right path, it may have spared my mother's life, but for some people, banishment just isn't enough. Death, I knew you would disagree to. So that left me only one choice.'

'Taking their bending from them,' Sokka finished for him, his eyes widening, but be it from respect or horror, it was impossible to tell.

'Yes,' Zuko nodded with approval, and Aang's head lowered just a little, his eyes going to his shoes.

'You want me to take Azula's bending away?' Aang asked softly, with an undercurrent that no one could place. Zuko nodded, and Aang closed his eyes. 'Every single time a Fire Nation criminal is caught, you expect me to-'

'Not every time,' Zuko rushed to clarify, 'only this time. Then, once I know how it is done, I can do it for myself.'

'Taking someone's bending is a torturous task,' Aang began softly, 'to do so, your own spirit must be strong and unbendable. It must be stronger than the other's spirit. If it is not, _you_ will break, and it is _you_ who will find yourself without bending … or worse. It could even take your life…' His voice had trailed into a whisper that the others had to lean forward to hear. Then he squared his shoulders and looked Zuko in the eye, his voice strong and unwavering: 'I will do it.'

Zuko sighed in relief, and thanked him with a nod, before leading him up the platform stairs. The rest of the Gaang found themselves being directed to front row seats right next to where Azula was chained, and looked up at Aang and Zuko worriedly as they sat.

Zuko turned to the audience, and rose his voice so all present could hear.

'I, Fire Lord Zuko, do here condemn Fire Princess Azula to the highest punishment given in my nation,' Those who did not know what Aang was about to do gasped in horror, thinking that the punishment would be death, or disfigurement at the least. 'I condemn her to the charge of Avatar Aang, who will take her bending away from her.'

There was silence in the room, before it suddenly erupted with furious and curious muttering, which Zuko silenced with a raise of his hand.

'Once the Avatar has performed this duty, it is I who will be conducting this punishment for as long as I am able. Now, please, silence in the room, as the Avatar performs this punishment.'

Zuko backed away from Aang and hurried down the stairs, taking a seat next to Mai, who held his hand and smiled gently at him. Katara looked up at Aang with a mist of unshed tears in her eyes.

Aang took a deep breath and stepped up to Azula. She raised her head, and he saw that she had been crying, and was covered from head to toe in filth that he hoped was only dirt. He reached out and gently but firmly pressed his thumbs to her forehead and collarbone. He closed his eyes, concentrating on what made him _him, _and then his head was forced back and up, and light erupted from his eyes. The gasps of all present were distantly acknowledged, as Azula's eyes too lit up, hers with a dirty red tinged with black, the seed of corruption. Aang focused his energy on hers, pushing his spirit to overwhelm her. He had a backup plan: the Avatar State. It had saved him before, from Ozai's alarmingly strong spirit, but he hoped he would not have to use it this time. It seemed too much like cheating in his eyes.

Then, suddenly, he felt her spirit move, just a little, retreating just a fraction towards her core.

And he smiled.

The rest was easy. Almost too easy, and Sokka would have said, ever the paranoid one, but it seemed that Azula simply had nothing left in her to fight with, and she succumbed to his spirit without a fight.

As Aang's spirit invaded and took Azula's, he found himself looking up things he had never imagined – her memories. There was the day her mother had given Zuko a knife – beautiful, and sharp, but had given _her_, her daughter, a doll. Aang felt first hand the anger that Zuko should receive such a wonderful gift, and that she should receive such a worthless one.  
Then there was the day she had hidden behind that curtain in the Fire Lord's throne room, and heard the words issued from her grandfather's mouth: _You must feel the pain of loosing a first born son. I order you to kill Fire Prince Zuko._ And Aang felt the horrible glee Azula had felt as those words reached her ears.

He felt the victory in her heart as she watched Zuko kneeling before their father, his face streaked with tears. He watched as Zuko cried out in pain … and he saw something Zuko could not – the thin-lipped smile on his father's face as he burnt his only son.

He felt the sick happiness as Azula watched Zuko's ship sail from the dock, never to return, as she had thought.

He felt the leap in her heart as her father ordered her to do what his father had ordered so many years ago. Kill Zuko.

Image after sick, painful image flashed before his eyes, and Aang knew that he was crying.

As soon as both their bodies glowed blue, Aang released Azula with a sigh, staggering back and tripping on an uneven tile, landing heavily on his backside. He placed a hand to his head. That was an experience he _never_ wanted to do again. Tears were still streaming from his eyes, and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Katara kneeling next to him. Her arms wrapped gently around his shoulders, and Aang leant into the embrace gratefully, shuddering as the memories of Azula's life continued to flash behind his closed eyes.

He heard the clank of someone undoing Azula's chains, and saw that Zuko was leaning over her. The moment she was free, Azula leapt to her feet – or tried, for just as Ozai had been, she was weakened. She gasped, the smiled, and struck out with a fist that would land far short of Zuko's face. Nothing happened.

The look on her face was enough for most present to laugh.

All but Aang and Katara.

'Aang,' she murmured as he continued to cry into her shoulder. 'What is it?'

'I … I can't … don't make me … it's … her memories … she's …' Aang sobbed and clung to Katara desperately. Katara looked up at Zuko, who was approaching anxiously.

'What is it?' he asked as he crouched down next to them. The rest of the Gaang was running up the stairs as the onlookers talked to each other quietly.

'I think … that when Aang took her bending … he took more than that. I think he took her memories as well,' Katara whispered to the others, one hand gently stroking the back of Aang's head.

'So Twinkle toes had blue fire now?' Toph asked, frowning.

'No,' Aang whispered. 'I don't. Blue flames come from a cold heart. And a cold heart I will _never_ have.' He looked up at him, his eyes finally clear. As Katara released him, Aang slowly stood up. He lurched suddenly, and the hands of his friends reached out to steady him.

'I'm okay,' he whispered. '…I will be.'


End file.
